System and method for providing multi-provider telecommunications services over a passive optical network

ABSTRACT

A method for providing access to a passive optical network for services to homes or businesses from two or more telecommunications service providers and a billing means is described. A first service provider connects to a point of presence at one side of passive optical network. The provider transmits the appropriate services through this network to an authorization receiver. The authorization receiver is used to receive a periodic authorization code from the network provider to enable the appropriate services from the service provider to be transmitted to a subscriber at a home or business. The authorization receiver enables an optical fiber path to be established for the services to flow to and from the home or business. The authorization code that is transmitted through the network also provides an unambiguous means to provide a billing record such that the service provider can be billed by the network provider on an individual service address connected basis in conjunction with a record of houses passed and not yet connected.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to the delivery of residentialand business telecommunications services, and in particular, to apassive optical network for use by multiple telecommunicationsproviders.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telecommunications providers build very expensive networks in order toprovide voice, data, video and other services to homes and businesses.Cable television companies, for instance, build Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC)networks to provide voice, data, and video services to customers usingRadio Frequency (RF) technology and Frequency Division Multiplexing(FDM) sharing schemes. Services are broadcast over these networks from acable television headend and then demultiplexed, demodulated, anddecoded as necessary by electronics located on the side of the house orbusiness or within the building. These networks can cost severalthousands of dollars per subscriber to build.

Telephone companies use Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON) todeliver voice, data, and video services to homes and businesses.Services are typically broadcast over a single optical fiber to anoptical splitter. The splitter divides the power among severalindividual fibers which transmit these services to electronic unitslocated on the side of or within a building. These electronic units mustdemultiplex, demodulate, and decode the transmitted signals as necessaryto deliver the appropriate services to the individual subscribers. Thistype of network can also cost several hundred to several thousands ofdollars per subscriber to build and operate.

As technology, market conditions, and federal and state regulation hasevolved, an economic inefficiency has been created resulting in networkproviders passing multiple sites, and serving only one, with the costpassed on primarily to the mass market of residential and small businessusers. In addition, discriminatory investment spending to upgradenetworks, along with a lack of corporate investment in a recognizedoptimal fiber network solution, is being observed as the United Statesfalls behind other countries in the percent of sites served with an endto end fiber solution.

In order to save capital costs and operating fees, and to achieve the“broadband for all” goal for the common good, the services fromdifferent network providers can be sent over the same passive opticalnetwork. However, an effective and reliable sharing scheme needs to bedeveloped in order for carriers to commit to placing their services overa shared network. Another problem with a typical shared networkarrangement is that the manual switching devices used to connect ordisconnect a customer service feed can be easily tampered with and donot provide remote monitoring of unauthorized usage for the individualservice providers. A need therefore exists for an improved system andmethod for allowing multiple service providers to distribute servicesusing the same network infrastructure.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In certain embodiments, a network for delivering telecommunicationsservices comprises a point of presence unit maintained by a networkprovider for receiving service provider signals from at least twoservice providers. A plurality of authorization receivers arerespectively associated with a plurality of user premises, with eachauthorization receiver comprising at least one optical switch. A passiveoptical network is connected between the point of presence, and theoptical switch in each authorization receiver. The point of presencetransmits a first service provider signal and a first plurality ofauthorization codes over the passive optical network to the plurality ofauthorization receivers. The point of presence also transmits the secondservice provider signal and a second plurality of authorization codesover the passive optical network to the plurality of authorizationreceivers. Each one of the authorization receivers allows the firstservice provider signal to be connected to the corresponding userpremises if at least one of the first plurality of authorization codesmatches an authorization code associated with the correspondingauthorization receiver. Likewise, each one of the plurality ofauthorization receivers allows the second service provider signal to beconnected to the user premises if at least one of the second pluralityof authorization codes matches an authorization code associated with thecorresponding authorization receiver. The network provider maintains arecord of all connections and disconnections of the first and secondservice provider signals to and from the user premises and provides therecord to the individual service providers. In certain embodiment, eachservice provider signal is transmitted over a separate optical fiberpath within the passive optical network to a separate optical switch ineach authorization receiver.

In other embodiments, a method for providing telecommunications servicesover a network comprises the acts of providing a point of presence unitfor receiving service provider signals from at least two serviceproviders. A first and second service provider signal are respectivelyreceived from a first and second service provider. If the receivedsignals are not already in an optical transmission format, they areconverted into an optical transmission format. The first and secondservice provider signals are respectively transmitted over a passiveoptical network to a plurality of authorization receivers. Eachauthorization receiver is associated with an authorization code for eachservice provider, although in certain embodiments, the sameauthorization code may be used for both service providers. If thereceived authorization code matches the code associated with theauthorization receiver, the associated service provider signal isallowed to pass from the authorization receiver to the equipment in theuser premises. Again, the network provider maintains records of allconnections and disconnections of the various service provider signalsto and from the user premises. Each service provider receives detailedbilling information concerning the connections and disconnections fortheir respective signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a passive optical network fordelivering telecommunications services according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example connectionscheme for the authorization receiver and optoelectronic transceiversaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the authorization receiveraccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method for using apassive optical network according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of theinvention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated inthe drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. Itwill nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of theinvention is thereby intended, and alterations and modifications in theillustrated device, and further applications of the principles of theinvention as illustrated therein are herein contemplated as wouldnormally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

The automatic connection and disconnection methodology described hereinprovides for a near real time connection or disconnection from a networkthat is difficult to fraudulently bypass and provides a detailed billingrecord related to the receipt of individual services provided by atelecommunications service provider over the network. The billing recordsent to the provider may reflect all addresses connected to the networkas well as those addresses that are disconnected (from an initialconnected state) or never connected during a given billing period,allowing the provider to properly track and verify customer usage.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a network 100 forproviding telecommunications services to customer premises 105 a, 105 b,105 c. Customer premises 105 typically comprise a residential home orbusiness building. As shown, services from various providers aredirected to a single point of presence 110 controlled by the networkoperator. The services typically originate from individual serviceprovider equipment, such as cable headend 115 and telco central office120. Other types of provider equipment (represented by box 125) fordelivering additional services may also be connected to the point ofpresence 110. The services originating from the provider equipment115,120,125 may include, but are not limited to, digital televisionservices, broadband internet data services, telephone services, digitalbroadcast satellite services, video-on-demand services, security systemconnectivity and the like.

Optical fibers 130,135 are connected between the point of presence 110and an optical splitter 140 as shown. Additional optical fibers 145 a,145 b, 145 c and 150 a, 150 b, 150 c are connected between the opticalsplitter 140 and interface electronics 155 a, 155 b, 155 c at theindividual customer premises 105. It shall be understood that theinterface electronics 155 may be located inside or outside of thecustomer premises 105.

The portion of the network 100 between point of presence 110 andinterface electronics 155 comprises what is known in the art as apassive optical network. Passive optical networks generally do notincorporate active electronic or optical devices, which can be costly topurchase and have increased power requirements. Instead, passive opticaldevices, such as optical splitter 140, are used to direct signals from asingle optical fiber to multiple destinations. As one nonlimitingexample, optical splitter 140 may route the signal from optical fiber130 to optical fibers 145 a, 145 b and 145 c. Likewise, the signal fromoptical fiber 135 may be routed to optical fibers 150 a, 150 b and 150c. It shall be understood that each optical splitter 140 may consist ofmultiple optical splitters in a single housing. For example, opticalsplitter 140 may contain two internal optical splitters wherein theoptical fiber 130 connects to optical fibers 145 a, 145 b and 145 c, andoptical fiber 135 connects to optical fibers 150 a, 150 b, and 150 c.

In certain embodiments, a single optical fiber path may be used transmitmultiple service provider signals, as opposed to requiring a separateoptical fiber for each service provider signal. For example, signalsfrom cable headend 115 and telco central office 120 may both betransmitted over optical fiber 130 by either transmitting each signal ona different wavelength or transmitting the signals together using timedivision multiplexing methods.

Since no active electronic switching devices are used between the pointof presence 110 and the interface electronics 155 at the user premises105, the cost to install and operate the network 100 is reduced.However, it shall be understood that some active optoelectronic devices,such as signal repeaters or amplifiers, may be required at selectedpoints in the network 100 in order to increase the signal strength overlong fiber runs.

As used herein, the term “passive optical network” shall refer to eithera single set of optically connected fibers (such as optical fibers 130,145 a, 145 b and 145 c) or to multiple sets of optically connectedfibers and their associated transmitting, splitting and receivingdevices. The present disclosure contemplates that large numbers ofparallel optical branches and/or multiple tiers of optical splitters maybe employed to allow maximum scalability of the network 100.

It shall be further understood that various additional mechanical andoptical devices may be employed to achieve the overall connectivity andstability of the optical fibers throughout the network 100. For example,each optical fiber may actually be a series of optically joined fiberswith the appropriate support devices to allow the fibers to be run overlong distances and be protected from the environment. In one embodiment,parallel sets of optical fibers may be run between two connection pointsusing a single multi-fiber cable. For example, optical fibers 145 a and150 a may be run in a jacketed two-conductor fiber optic cable fromoptical splitter 140 to user premises 105 a. Additional optical fibersmay also be contained in the cable to deliver services from additionalservice providers to the user premises 105 a or to act as spares forfuture additional services.

As shown in FIG. 2, the interface electronics 155 at the home orbusiness may include an authorization receiver 205 which is controlledby the network operator and optoelectronics units 210 a, 210 b which areused to received and transmit video, voice, data, and other servicesfrom various service providers. It shall be understood that while twooptoelectronic units 210 are shown, any number of optoelectronic units210 may be utilized depending on the number of service providers thatare supplying services to the customer premises 105. In a preferredembodiment, a single authorization receiver 205 is used at each userpremises 105. The authorization receiver 205 receives the incomingprovider content signals (via optical fibers 145,150) and directs thesignals to the optoelectronics units 210. Each optoelectronics unit 210converts the associated optical provider signal into separate usablesignals for the types of service being provided. For example, theoptoelectronics unit 210 a may separate the incoming signal from theauthorization receiver 205 into individual voice, data and video signalsfor connection to individual devices in the user premises (e.g.,telephones, computers, televisions, etc.). In other embodiments, theoptoelectronics units 210 will simply convert the optical signal outputby the authorization receiver 205 to an electronic signal, then directthe electronic signal to additional interface devices, such as Ethernetrouters, cable modems, or television set top boxes, for connection tothe individual consumer devices.

In certain embodiments, the authorization interface electronics 155 maycomprise a single unit which contains the authorization receiver 205 andmultiple optoelectronics units 210. In other embodiments, theauthorization receiver 205 may be a separate unit, with individualoptoelectronics devices 210 added depending on the number of serviceproviders that wish to deliver services to the customer. Theoptoelectronics units 210 may be supplied by the network operator alongwith the authorization receiver 205 or may be supplied by the individualservice providers.

FIG. 3 shows a more detailed view of the authorization receiver 205. Asshown, a signal from a first service provider is transmitted to theauthorization receiver 205 via optical fiber 145 as depicted. Eachincoming optical fiber 145,150 is connected to a corresponding opticalsplitter 305 a, 305 b. The optical splitters 305 are each furtherconnected to both an optical decoder 310 a, 310 b and an optical switch315 a, 315 b as shown. Each optical decoder 310 is operatively connectedto an associated optical switch 315 such that the optical decoder 310 isable to control the state of the optical switch 315 depending on thepresence or absence of a particular authorization code embedded withinor transmitted in addition to the incoming provider content signal.

The optical decoder 310 transforms the received optical authorizationsignal into an electrical signal and decodes the signal. If the decodedsignal contains the appropriate authorization code for the particularcustomer, an electronic signal is transmitted to the optical switch 315such that the optical switch 315 enables the provider signal to be sentto the optoelectronics unit 210. Once the optical switch 205 is closed,optical fiber signals can travel in both directions to and from the userpremises. The authorization signal is sent periodically to “hold” theoptical circuit closed such that voice, data, video, and other servicescan be transmitted over the optical path.

An electronic record of the connection and disconnection of services tothe individual user premises may be maintained at the point of presence110 or other location. The electronic record preferably containsinformation detailing the time the authorization signal was first sentto an authorization receiver and the subscriber address associated withthe authorization receiver. In certain embodiments, the point ofpresence 110 will record the time a “connect” authorization code wassent to an authorization receiver 205 and the time a “disconnect”authorization code was sent to the same authorization receiver 205. Inother embodiments, the point of presence 130 will record the time aninitial authorization code was sent to the authorization receiver 205and the time the point of presence 130 stopped sending additional “keepalive” authorization codes. This information can then be used to providea detailed real time or periodic billing record to each service providerusing the network.

In one embodiment, the authorization code transmitted by the networkprovider is an eight bit binary code modulated onto a radio frequency(RF) carrier using quaternary phase shift keying (QPSK) or quadratureamplitude modulation (QAM) schemes. The RF carrier signal may be locatedin the path of the service provider signal, but in an area of the RFspectrum or at a wavelength that does not interfere with the servicesbeing delivered to the subscribers. Once the authorization code ismodulated onto the RF carrier, it is further transformed into an opticalformat along with the other RF carriers within the provider signal andtransmitted to the authorization receiver 205. The authorizationreceiver 205 converts the received optical signal back to an RF signaland demodulates the authorization code from the corresponding RFcarrier. Other encoding schemes and alphanumerical formats known in theart for encoding and transmitting the authorization signal may also beused and are contemplated to be within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

In addition to the elements discussed above, the components of thenetwork 100, including point of presence 110 and optoelectronics units205, may include one or more processors, memory, storage andinput/output devices. Additionally, it shall be understood that thevarious system components discussed herein may be incorporated into oneor more other components. It shall be further understood that the systemcomponents may be located in the same physical location or in separatelocations from one another. Additionally, it should be appreciated thatthe representation in FIGS. 1-3 are not intended to be detailed drawingsshowing all components of the network 100. Further, for the sake ofbrevity, much of the standard internal workings, processes andoperations of a telecommunications network will not be described indetail herein, as they are well known to those of ordinary skill in theart.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method 400 of providing services frommultiple telecommunications service providers to subscribers over anetwork. The process begins at step 402 when a first service providerdirects a first provider signal to the point of presence 110. Eachprovider signal sent to the point of presence 110 from providerequipment 115,120,125 may contain a single type of service signal (e.g.,video) or multiple types of signals multiplexed together (e.g., voice,video, and data).

At step 404, the point of presence 110 receives the first providersignal, decodes it, and, if necessary, reformats it into an opticalformat suitable for transmission over optical fiber. It shall beunderstood that the individual service provider signals received by thepoint of presence 130 may be in a variety of formats, includingnon-optical and optical formats. The provider signal is thenretransmitted to the optical splitter 140 over an optical fiber such asoptical fiber 130. Optical splitter 140 splits and again retransmits thefirst provider signal to all of the interface electronics units 155which are connected to the optical splitter 140 via optical fibers 145.It shall be understood that the provider signal may pass throughadditional optical splitters or other optical routing devices placedalong the path between point of presence 110 and interface electronics155.

At step 406, the point of presence 110 determines the identity of theservice provider which sent the signal and further determines which ofthe connected user premises are authorized to receive the signal. In oneembodiment, the identification of the service provider can be done bysimply checking to see which hardwired port sensed the signal in thepoint of presence 110. In other embodiments, the point of presence canextract a provider identification code from within the provider signal.Other means of determining the provider identity may also be used andare considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

To determine which of the user premises are authorized to receive theprovider content signal, the point of presence 110 can again extractsubscriber information embedded in the provider content signal or lookup the subscriber list in a separate database. It shall be understoodthat the database may be maintained within the point of presence 110 orin a separate server (not shown) which is in communication with thepoint of presence 110. It shall be further understood that the customeridentification information maintained by the network operator may belimited to the individual authorization codes in order to furtherprotect customer privacy and prevent unwanted dissemination of customerbilling information.

Once the list of authorization codes are determined for a given contentsignal, the authorization codes are encoded into an authorization signaland transmitted over the optical fibers 130 and 145 and received by theauthorization receiver 205. Each authorization receiver 205 receives anddecodes the authorization signal to determine if one of the transmittedauthorization codes matches an authorization code assigned to thatauthorization receiver 205. In one embodiment, the assignedauthorization code for each individual authorization receiver 205 is setwithin the authorization receiver 205 before being installed at thecustomer premises. In other embodiments, the authorization code may beset remotely.

If the received authorization code matches that of the authorizationreceiver 205, the optical switch 315 a is closed, allowing the firstprovider content signal to reach the optoelectronics unit 210 a at step408. The optoelectronics unit 210 a receives the provider content signaland separates it into the individual content signals (voice, video,internet) for delivery within the user premises 105 a.

In one embodiment, the optical switch 315 a will remain closed for apredetermined period of time after receiving the correct authorizationcode, after which time it will reopen if the authorization code is notreceived again. In this way, periodic authorization signals willcontinue to be sent to the authorization receivers 205 to maintainconnectivity of the provider signal. If a user cancels their service orotherwise needs to be disconnected from service, the point of presence110 will stop transmitting the authorization code for that user'sauthorization receiver, causing the authorization receiver 205 todisconnect the provider content signal from the optoelectronics unit 210a. The network operator will keep track of all connections anddisconnections of the provider content signal to each authorizationreceiver 205 and provide a detailed billing record to the serviceprovider.

At step 410, a second service provider directs a second content signalto the point of presence 110 for delivery to one or more user premises105. The content signal is reformatted and transmitted over a differentoptical fiber 135 to optical splitter 140 and further directed toauthorization receivers 205 via optical fibers 150 at step 412. Again,the point of presence 110 determines the authorization codes for theauthorization receivers 205 which are authorized to receive the contentsignal and transmits the codes as part of an authorization signal to theauthorization receivers 205 (step 414). Each authorization receiver 205which is able to decode a matching authorization code from theauthorization signal then passes the provider content signal throughoptical switch 315 b to the optoelectronics unit 210 b for separationand distribution within the user premises (step 416). At step 418, theprocess repeats for any additional service provider signals which arebeing supplied over the network 100.

It shall be understood that while the provider content signal has beendescribed as being transmitted prior to the authorization signal, othertiming schemes may be implemented and are considered to be within thescope of the present disclosure. For example, the authorization codesignal or pulse may be transmitted regardless of whether a specificcontent stream is being transmitted by the service provider at a giventime. In other embodiments, as described above, a “keep alive”authorization signal may be sent at periodic intervals to prevent theauthorization receiver 205 from disconnecting the content signal fromthe user premises. In still further embodiments, the authorizationreceiver 205 will close the optical switch 315 upon receiving a matchingauthorization code and leave it closed until a separate “disconnection”code is received.

It shall be further understood that signals may be transmitted in bothdirections between the point of presence 110 and the user premises 105.For example, voice signals and internet email or browsing data will alsoneed to be passed from the user premises 105 to the point of presence110. Because the same optical fiber is used to facilitate transmissionin both directions, the optical switch 315 will also prevent suchtransmission when necessary. In certain embodiments, the point ofpresence 110 may require the authorization receiver 205 to send anacknowledgement signal back to the point of presence 110 indicating thatthe correct authorization code was received and/or indicating thecurrent state of each switch 315 within the authorization receiver 205.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionare desired to be protected.

1. A network for delivering telecommunications services, comprising: apoint of presence maintained by a network provider for receiving serviceprovider signals from at least two service providers; a plurality ofauthorization receivers associated with a plurality of user premises,each one of said authorization receivers comprising at least one opticalswitch; and a passive optical network connecting said point of presenceand said optical switches within said authorization receivers; whereinsaid point of presence is operable to transmit a first service providersignal and a first plurality of authorization codes over the passiveoptical network to said plurality of authorization receivers; whereinsaid point of presence is operable to transmit a second service providersignal and a second plurality of authorization codes over the passiveoptical network to said plurality of authorization receivers; whereineach one of said plurality of authorization receivers is operable toallow the first service provider signal to be connected to thecorresponding user premises if at least one of the first plurality ofauthorization codes matches an authorization code associated with thecorresponding authorization receiver; wherein each one of said pluralityof authorization receivers is operable to allow the second serviceprovider signal to be connected to the user premises if at least one ofthe second plurality of authorization codes matches the authorizationcode associated with the corresponding authorization receiver; andwherein the network provider maintains a record of all connections anddisconnections of said first and second service provider signals to andfrom the user premises and provides said record to the serviceproviders.
 2. The network of claim 1, wherein said passive opticalnetwork comprises at least two optical fiber paths connecting each oneof said authorization receivers to said point of presence; wherein thefirst service provider signal is transmitted from the point of presenceto the plurality of authorization receivers over a first optical fiberpath; and wherein the second service provider signal is transmitted fromthe point of presence to the plurality of authorization receivers over asecond optical fiber path.
 3. The network of claim 1, wherein saidrecord includes a listing of all user premises which were not connectedduring a given billing period.
 4. The network of claim 1, wherein eachone of said authorization receivers further comprises an optoelectronicsunit which separates each one of said service provider signals intoseparate telecommunications signals for use by individual consumerdevices.
 5. The network of claim 4, wherein said each one of saidseparate telecommunications signals comprises at least one of a videosignal, a voice signal, and a broadband internet signal.
 6. The networkof claim 4, wherein said optoelectronics unit is located separate fromsaid authorization receiver.
 7. The network of claim 4, wherein saidoptoelectronics unit is located integral to said authorization receiver.8. The network of claim 1, wherein said first plurality of authorizationcodes are combined with said first service provider signal before beingtransmitted over the passive optical network to said plurality ofauthorization receivers; and wherein said second plurality ofauthorization codes are combined with said second service providersignal before being transmitted over the passive optical network to saidplurality of authorization receivers.
 9. The network of claim 1, whereineach one of said authorization codes comprises an eight bit binary code.10. The network of claim 1, wherein each one of said authorization codesis modulated onto an RF carrier using at least one of QPSK and QAMschemes before being converted to an optical format.
 11. The network ofclaim 1, wherein each one of said authorization codes is modulated ontoan RF carrier that does not interfere with the corresponding serviceprovider signal before being converted to an optical format.
 12. Thenetwork of claim 1, wherein each one of said plurality of authorizationreceivers allows the first service provider signal to remain connectedfor a predetermined period of time once a matching authorization code isdetected; and wherein each one of said authorization receivers allowsthe second service provider signal to remain connected for saidpredetermined period of time once a matching authorization code isdetected.
 13. The network of claim 1, wherein said passive opticalnetwork comprises at least one optical splitter for directing saidservice provider signals to said user premises.
 14. A method forproviding telecommunications services over a network comprising:providing a point of presence unit for receiving service providersignals from at least two service providers; receiving a first serviceprovider signal from a first one of said service providers; receiving asecond service provider signal from a second one of said serviceproviders; transmitting said first service provider signal over apassive optical network to a plurality of authorization receivers, eachone of said authorization receivers comprising at least one opticalswitch associated with one of a plurality of user premises; and saidpassive optical network connecting said point of presence and saidoptical switches within said authorization receivers; transmitting saidsecond service provider signal over the passive optical network to saidplurality of authorization receivers; associating a first authorizationcode with a first authorization receiver; associating a secondauthorization code with the first authorization receiver; transmitting afirst plurality of authorization codes over said passive optical networkto said authorization receivers; transmitting a second plurality ofauthorization codes over said passive optical network to saidauthorization receivers; connecting said first service provider signalreceived by said first authorization receiver to user equipment locatedwithin a first user premises if at least one of said first plurality ofauthorization codes matches said first authorization code; connectingsaid second service provider signal received by said first authorizationreceiver to user equipment located within the first user premises if atleast one of said second plurality of authorization codes matches saidsecond authorization code; providing the first service provider with arecord of said connection of said first service provider signal; andproviding the second service provider with a record of said connectionof said second service provider signal.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein said passive optical network comprises at least two opticalfiber paths connecting each one of said authorization receivers to saidpoint of presence; wherein the first service provider signal istransmitted from the point of presence to the plurality of authorizationreceivers over a first optical fiber path; and wherein the secondservice provider signal is transmitted from the point of presence to theplurality of authorization receivers over a second optical fiber path.16. The method of claim 14, further comprising: separating each one ofsaid first and second service provider signals into separatetelecommunications signals for use by individual consumer devices, eachone of said telecommunications signals comprising at least one of avideo signal, a voice signal, and a broadband internet signal.
 17. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising: combining said first pluralityof authorization codes with said first service provider signal beforetransmitting said first service provider signal over said first passiveoptical network to said plurality of authorization receivers; andcombining said second plurality of authorization codes with said secondservice provider signal before transmitting said second service providersignal over said second passive optical network to said plurality ofauthorization receivers.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein said firstand second authorization codes each comprises an eight bit binary code.19. The method of claim 14, further comprising: modulating each one ofsaid first and second authorization codes onto a corresponding RFcarrier using at least one of QPSK and QAM schemes before beingconverted to an optical format.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein eachone of said first and second authorization codes is modulated onto an RFcarrier that does not interfere with the correspondingtelecommunications signal before being converted to an optical format.21. The method of claim 14, wherein said first and second authorizationcodes are different.
 22. The method of claim 14, further comprising:providing each one of said service providers with a record of addressesassociated with corresponding authorization receivers which were notconnected during a given billing period.